Seminar: Decoding the Molecular Pathology of Cancer with Vibrational Spectroscopy

Abstract

Understanding the metastatic progression of cancer remains challenging due in part to a rudimentary knowledge of metabolic, physiologic and molecular adaptations that allow for the cancer to survive and thrive within different tissue types. Raman spectroscopy is particularly attractive for the analysis of cancer cells and their microenvironment as it permits a rapid and simultaneous fingerprinting of inherent biologic content, extraneous materials and functional state without the use of labeled probes. Leveraging such non-perturbative analysis, we have generated novel molecular descriptions of the poorly understood pre-metastatic niche, i.e. the collective changes at the distant metastatic sites prior to the arrival of the tumor cells. Additionally, the group has determined clinically relevant spectral markers of early metastatic disease in bone that permit detection significantly before morphologic variations are captured through radiographic diagnosis. A second module of the research focuses on engineering nanostructured plasmonic probes for ultrasensitive detection of specific molecular species. The high sensitivity and broad applicability of these plasmonic nanoprobes, in conjunction with their inert composition, render them a promising agent for serum profiling as well as for precise delineation of microscopic tumors that are impossible to visualize with currently available imaging technologies. 

About the speaker

Ishan Barman is an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University with joint appointments in the Departments of Oncology, and Radiology & Radiological Science. He is currently a senior investigator of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded Laser Biomedical Research Center, which is a multi-institutional center with Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard Medical School. He received his B. Tech. from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and his master's and doctorate from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His laboratory’s research is focused on the development of cutting-edge and transformative biophotonics technologies with the goal of disease detection at early, manageable stages, monitoring therapeutic effects and treatment outcomes, and guiding interventions. The optical tools generated from the laboratory’s investigations have been successfully adopted in diverse biomedical environments such as in automated recognition of biopsy specimen, real-time diagnosis of middle ear pathology and as a customized monoclonal antibody identification platform. His work has been extensively featured in leading scientific (Technology Review, Physics Today, Physics World, C&E News) and popular media (Wall St. Journal, CNN Newsroom with Ali Velshi) outlets. Barman’s awards for his research contributions include the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, Maryland Outstanding Young Engineer Award, American Society for Lasers in Surgery and Medicine (ASLMS), Dr. Horace Furumoto Innovations Young Investigator Award, and the Tomas Hirschfeld Award by the Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies.

Hosted by Professor Shaurya Prakash.